Bhubaneswar, Feb 24 (PTI) Around 35 per cent of the
voters exercised their franchise in the by-election to the
Bijepur Assembly seat in Odisha till noon today, an election
official said.

Polling began at 8 am and would continue till 5 pm,
the official said.

Counting of votes would be undertaken on February 28.

The by-poll was necessitated due to the death of
Congress MLA Subal Sahu in August last year.

"Polling is going on smoothly and peacefully, barring
brief interruptions in some booths due to technical snags in
Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines," the
official said.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the
by-poll in the constituency located in Bargarh district,
especially in the wake of pre-poll violence in and around the
area, officials said.

Around 2.21 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their
franchise in 281 polling booths set up for the by-election, as
against 270 booths used during the Assembly polls in 2014,
according to Bargarh district Collector Yamini Sarangi.

"Of the 281 booths, 155 have been identified as
critical. We have 12 dedicated squads to ensure free and fair
polling in all the places," Sarangi said.

"Six check posts have also been set up in the border
areas where vehicles coming from outside will be stopped and
disallowed to enter Bijepur constituency," Bargarh SP
Jai Narayan Pankaj said.

Security has been tightened following a series of
violent incidents, including an attack on the brother of state
Labour Minister Susanta Singh yesterday.

A total of five companies (500 personnel) of Central
Paramilitary Force along with one company (85 personnel) of
Odisha Swift Action Force have been deployed on poll duty, a
senior police officer said.

This apart, 40 platoons (1,200 personnel) of state
armed police have been deployed on poll duty, he said.

Late Congress leader Subal Sabu's wife Rita Sahu has
been fielded this time by the ruling BJD. There are 13 other
candidates in the fray including Ashok Panigrahi of BJP and
Pranay Sahu of Congress.